April 29, 2009

Jaffa Sweetie Brand Naming Not So Sweet in Iran

Recently, Iranian shoppers were confronted with oranges that were apparently grown in Israel despite an Iranian ban of Israeli goods that dates back to 1979.

Before then, Iranians were happy to eat over 40 tonnes of Israeli oranges a year, but the seemingly innocent appearance of "Jaffa Sweetie Israel-PO" oranges was enough to make one Iranian official declare that "rogue elements" were trying to "disgrace the ruling government."

As it turns out, those "rogue elements" were unscrupulous Chinese middlemen, who illegally used the "Jaffa Sweetie" brand name on their counterfeit fruit.

The problem was exacerbated by the fact that "President Ahmadinejad inadvertently distributed the fruit during a two day goodwill visit to the town of Salam in southern Iran."

The Chinese and Iranian investigators have counter-claimed that they actually bought the real thing in Israel and simply forgot to remove the stickers before sending them on to Iran. One then must wonder if it is the brand naming of the oranges or the oranges themselves that is the actual problem?

The Iranians claim they want no part of "Zionist" oranges, but if the Chinese investigators are correct, then they have been eating them via China, branded as Jaffa or something else, for some time.